Welcome to CrashUtah – Where BYU fans Talk Sports

This hasn’t been the best year when it comes to the head to head with utah, but I came across a pleasant surprise tonight.

My wife and I had just finished watching a show on our DVR and when I turned it back to live tv it was on ESPN, which is what it usually is. As I flipped up the ESPN stations the title said college rugby, so I decided to stop and take a look. As luck would have it, it was BYU and utah playing.

What was even more beautiful was that BYU was dominating, and they have continued to do so since I started watching. I started watching about ten minutes into the second half, and it has just been a BYU scorefest since then.

Now I won’t begin to tell you that I know much about rugby, but any idiot can tell you that winning by 39 is a good thing. The hits have been hard, the passes accurate, and the playmaking creative. Make that winning by 46. Call me crazy but that is a good score for the game, not just for margin of victory.

I really wish I had gone to more rugby games in high school, it is just so much fun to watch. Having gone to Highland High the few games I did see were a lot of fun to watch.

It is such a pure sport when it comes to straight up strength and skill against your opponent. From what I understand, it is also the ultimate team game. Having one or two stars does you no good if they don’t have the support behind them.

I am also just starting to enjoy more of the sports that aren’t as well followed. It is so refreshing to see athletes playing just for the thrill of playing your best and winning. There is no expectations of huge paydays from the pros, and no over-analyzation of the media.

Congrats to BYU for a dominating win, and good luck with the rest of the season.

With the conference tournament really starting today, it merits a few moments to consider what BYU stands to lose, and in turn gain, in the tournament.

In short, I really don’t think the outcome of the tournament will have a tremendous impact on BYU in terms of the NCAA tournament. Of course losing to Air Force in the first round would not be a good thing, but how likely is that to happen. Beyond a first round loss there really is not much damage to be done. Losing to San Diego St. would not be a huge upset, nor would losing to UNLV in their home invitational. Losing in the championship to anyone else would not be terribly tragic either.

In terms of what good can come of it, I also feel it is limited. Lets just say that BYU beats AFA, then either San Diego St. or UNLV who are pretty comparable, and Utah in the championship. All that may do is move BYU up one seed, two at the most. So instead of being an 8-9 seed they are a 7-8. There really is not a huge difference in the long run.

The biggest thing BYU could gain from the tournament is getting on a roll. It is insane how good they are when they get hot. With a shooting team like BYU it cannot be overlooked how important getting on a run can be. When shooters get hot it is hard to stop them. Playing three quality games in a familiar, if not friendly, arena could do wonders for helping them go into the big dance with some momentum.

Either way, I am excited for the tournament to start and the madness that is march to commence.